15. ARAKAS, PANAGIA
OF (LAGOUDERA)

Located in the central part of the
Troodos Mountains, on the northern slopes of Adelphoi peak (1613m a.s.l.) descending into a deep
valley outside Lagoudera
(Nicosia district) at
1000m a.s.l. Late Roman remains
(settlement, church, bath)
have been reported in the valley below [Winfield (n.d.) 4]. The monastery on the site dates
from at least the late 12th century [Papacostas (1999a) 6.B.I.13] and the
recent two-storey monastic building on the north of the church was restored in the
late 1960s [Papageorgiou
(1969) 150-52].

Description: The dome-hall structure with
semi-circular apse (with three windows) is covered by a protective timber roof extending around
the church and forming porticoes
[Megaw (1974) 87-88; ODB 2.1169]. It is built mostly of local
sideropetra rubble, although brick was used for the window and the
door arches, and presumably for the arches and vaults under the dome (which are covered with frescoes). The dome drum is pierced by twelve
windows and was built in ashlar
masonry from the lowlands [cf. Asinounarthex], although brick was used in the window arches and
in the uppermost course (diagonally-laid bricks). The arches and vaults in the naos are slightly pointed,
providing one of the earliest such examples [Nicolaides (1996) 9]. The interior is
completely covered by well preserved fresco decoration [Nicolaides (1996), with earlier bibliography], dated by
inscription to 1192 and executed for Leo
Authentes [inscriptions in Winfield (n.d.) 15-17; Stylianou (1960) 101-2; Sodini (1970) 486; Wharton (1988) 84-85; Nicolaides (1996) 4-8]. The
decoration is attributed to Theodore
Apseudes who decorated the Enkleistra of
Neophytos the Recluse in
1183 [Winfield (n.d.) 24; Wharton (1988) 87], although serious
doubts remain over this identification [Nicolaides (1996) 8-9]. The late 12th-century
icons of Christ and the Virgin Arakiotissa from the church (now kept in the Byzantine Museum of Nicosia),
which are contemporary with the fresco cycle, were perhaps also executed by the same painter [Papageorgiou (1968b),
(1976) 267-70; Mouriki
(1985/86) 16-17].

Dating: Built in the second half of the 12th century, before 1192
[Procopiou (2006a) 248],
when most of the surviving fresco
decoration was executed, and after the earliest (undated) layer of
decoration in the apse [mid-12th century: Winfield (n.d.) 4 and 24, Winfield (1978) 286; 1180s: Nicolaides (1996) 134]. A partly
excavated and no longer surviving apsidal narthex was added in c.1200 [ARDA 1956, 12; Nicolaides (1996) 11].

Later additions / alterations: The timber roof was added later [as shown by the
original roof tiles which remain in situ on the vaults: Winfield (n.d.) 6], probably in the 14th
century (painted decoration on the north
façade of naos), and it was repaired in the 18th century The west
wall of the naos was pulled down when the apsidal narthex was replaced by the
present west extension in the late 18th century [Nicolaides (1993) 424, Nicolaides (1996) 11; Winfield and Mango
(1969) 378; Winfield
(1978) 287; MKE 2,
270-73].

Modern repairs: In the mid-1950s the blocked north and south doors were
reopened, the timber roof
was replaced, and a retaining wall was built west of the narthex after the removal of
earth that had accumulated against it [ARDA 1955, 10, 1956, 12, 1957, 10]. In 1955 the timber beams
between the dome piers were cut
off [Winfield (n.d.) 6]. In
1968-73 the frescoes were
cleaned by Dumbarton Oaks, revealing parts of an earlier layer under the
Arakiotissa panel on the south wall [ARDA 1968, 8, 1970, 10; BCH
93 (1969) 566-69; Mango (1969)
103-4; Winfield (1971a)
262, Winfield (1971b)
147-48, Winfield (1978)
284-86; Stylianou (1982) 525], while
the apse frescoes were treated
again in 1977 [ARDA 1977, 14].